The document provides instructions for identifying the key components of a story using a timeline. It explains that the key event is usually the most memorable part that the rest of the story depends on. Leading events are those that preceded and led to the key event, while consequential events are the results of the key event. The tips suggest looking for changes in the protagonist and causal relationships between events, and avoiding overattributing causes.

1. Source: StoryTraining: Selecting and Shaping Stories That Connect http://www.storytrainingonline.com
Instructions
1. Draw a line that will represent the story.
2. Identify the key event, which may be the part that makes you remember the story so well. It is usually the point on
which the rest of the story depends.
Tip: Look for the point of change in the story’s protagonist—a revelation, a change in stakes, a gain or loss—whether
the change belongs to you or someone else.
3. Identify the leading events by searching your memory and finding as many events that preceded the key event as
possible. You are looking for events that both support your intention and have a causal relationship to the key event.
Tip: It’s easier to begin with events that you remember happening immediately before the key event and work
backward. We call these leading events because they are events that led to the key event.
4. Finally, identify the consequential events. These are the events that occurred as a result of the key event (and all
the events that led up to the key event).
Tips: Stay focused on your intent. Avoid overreaching by attributing the cause of circumstantial incidents to the key
event. Concentrate on what happened as opposed to what did not happen. It’s often impossible to say that an event
did not occur because of something else.
TIMELINING
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KEY EVENTLEADING EVENTS CONSEQUENTIAL EVENTS